Search

Donald Trump has only been in office a week and he hasn’t changed a bit from what he was during the campaign. Congress has only approved a small handful of his appointments. He has issued a series of executive orders. His worst executive order is his one to ban people from coming to the U.S. from 7 Muslim-majority countries. This is Un-American plain and simple. It has already been halted by a Federal judge. It has been said over and over again that we are a nation of immigrants. Donald Trump’s grandfather was an immigrant. We are repeating the mistakes of the past.

Unfortunately the U.S. has an ugly history when it comes to welcoming immigrants or people who are different than us. African-Americans have and continue to face discrimination. In the 1800’s we weren’t exactly welcoming towards Irish immigrants or Chinese Immigrants. During WWII Jews faced Antisemitism. We should have known better considering where our ancestors came from. Americans escaped England to avoid religious persecution. Many of the refugees coming from war-torn countries are doing the same thing.

There will always be people who want to deny what our existence as a country was founded on. Our founding fathers were not deeply religious as some have suggested. We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation of many religions. If people can’t accept that then they should leave. My great-grandmother escaped Russian territory before WWI ended to escape anti-Semitic pogroms.

There are many more stories like my great-grandmothers. If we wish to continue as a country we should be welcoming refugees with open arms. Most people’s security concerns about refugees aren’t based on facts. We already have very strong refugee screening program in our country. President Trump’s executive order has put U.S. citizens in danger across the world. If we continue on this path we won’t be the only ones restricting access to our country. Other countries will respond with bans on U.S. citizens. That doesn’t further anyone’s goal or make us safer.